Envelope moistener and sealer



Nov. 14, 1950 P. WILLIS 2,530,037

ENVELOPE MOISTENER AND SEALER Filed June 9, 1947 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l4if l8 INVENTOR. PAUL WILLIS BY i g ATTURNEY Nov. 14, 1950 P. w|| |s2,530,037

ENVELOPE MOISTENER AND SEALER Filed June 9, 1947 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR. PA UL WILL 15 A TTURNZEJY Patented Nov. 14, 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE ENVELOPE MOISTENER AND SEALER Paul Willis, San Francisco,Calif. I

Application June 9, 1947, Serial No. 753,407

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a new and improved envelope sealer and hasparticular reference to a device which will automatically moisten theglue on the flaps and seal the flaps to the envelope by merely drawingthe envelopes through the device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a water reservoir and avalve for automatically releasing a small amount of the water on a padfor moistening the glue on the flap of the envelope.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of means forguiding the flap of the envelope over the moistener and another meansfor automatically sealing the flap after it has passed the moisteningpad.

Another object of the present invention is to form the main body of thedevice of a single piece of material, which body includes in itsconstruction a means for holding the moistening pad, 2. means forguiding the flap of the envelope over the said pad and a means forautomaticall sealing the flap to the envelope.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an envelopesealing device of the character described that is durable, simple inconstruction, economical to manufacture and highly efficient andserviceable in use.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification,wherein for the purpose of illustration like numerals designate likeparts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal side elevational view of the improvedenvelope sealing device embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same,

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view loo-king in direction of the arrows 3in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a vertical end sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 2,looking in direction of the arrows, and simplified by the elimination ofsealer 9 from the background,

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4 lookingin direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the improved envelope sealing deviceembodying the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawings and the numerals thereof the numeral1 designates, as a whole, the main body of the device comprising anenvelope flap guide portion 8, a sealing portion 9 and a base member I0.The said base portion preferably projects downwardly and is bentinwardly as at H and a suitable screw member I2 having a handle I3functions to retain the device on a desk or the like. Any suitable meanscan be provided for securing the device to a wall or other object in anysuitable manner. The fluid reservoir I4 is preferably rectangular and isformed with a valve opening l6 as shown to advantage in Figs. 4 and 5. Aplunger ll provides a seat for covering the said opening, the saidplunger carrying a vertical rod l8 provided with a shoulder portion IQfor accommodating a coil spring 20. The top of the reservoir is formedwith an inwardly extending horizontal lip 2| and is apertured as at 22to guide the said plunger rod l8. The said coil spring 20 is secured tothe said lip and also to the said plunger rod around the said shoulderportion 19 thereof and the tension of the said spring is in an upwarddirection as indicated by the arrow 23 in Figs. 4 and 5 for retainingthe said plunger I! in a closed position over the said opening I6.

The said plunger is automatically controlled, for opening and closingthe said valve opening, by a suitable lever 24 pivotally secured tosuitable uprights 25 as at 26, shown to advantage in Figs. 1 and 5. Aninwardly bent portion 21 having a suitable absorbent pad 28 thereonfunctions to receive the fluid discharged upon the valve opening [6 andprovides a medium for moistening the glue on the flap 29 of the envelope30. When it is desired to seal the envelope the said flap is positionedon the moistener as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6, after which it isdrawn across the moistener and pulled underneath the sealer 9 andautomatically sealed. As the said device is preferably made of plasticthere is sufficient resiliency in the sealer to accomplish the sealing.It will be noted that each time the envelope is drawn over the moisturepad 28 the lever 24 will be tilted automatically opening the valve,whereby a quantity of fluid 3| from within the reservoir I4 isdischarged upon the said moisture pad.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as preferred example of the same and thatvarious changes relative to the shape, size, material and arrangement ofparts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

A small rotatable roller can be positioned on or secured to the top ofthe device to thus provide a convenient means for applying moisture tostamps for the sealed envelopes, or for any desired moistening purpose.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A device for sealing envelopes embodying in its construction a base, afluid reservoir secured thereto and spaced above said base, a flangedepending from said reservoir and extending at an angle beneath thebottom of the same and toward the front portion of the base, amoistening pad fixed to the top face of said flange, a valve in thebottom of the reservoir capable of releasing fluid to the pad, meansincluding a downwardly extending lever for operating the valve, meanspivotally securing the upper end portion of the lever to the saidreservoir, means carried by said base for receiving and guiding theinner glued portion of an envelope flap to and across the saidmoistening pad, means for sealing the flap to the envelope,

the said sealing means including a member on the 15 top of the base atthe rear extremity thereof and extending at an angle upwardly therefromtoward the moistening pad.

PAUL WILLIS.

4 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 743,667 Strong Nov. 10, 1903796,936 Saunders Aug. 8, 1905 2,074,811 Schuh Mar. 23, 1937 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 59,798 Germany Nov. 21, 1891 470,581 FranceSept. 17, 1914

